Private broadcasters avoid DD Free Dish auction amid fee hike

DD Free Dish auction was scheduled to take place on 11 April but the broadcaster didn’t receive any applications for participation.

State broadcaster Doordarshan’s free-to-air direct-to-home (DTH) platform DD Free Dish failed to receive any applications for a planned auction to award channel slots to private broadcasters, a few weeks after it raised the reserve prices for its platform.

The auction was scheduled to take place on 11 April but the broadcaster didn’t receive any applications for participation, following which the auction was cancelled, said two people familiar with the development, who did not want to be named.